 Ancestor Index
 The last days of
Leone Sextus Tollemache
Leone Sextus Tollemache fell
victim to influenza in the winter of 1917 - perhaps one
of the earliest casualties of what is now known to have
been the fatal strain that reached epidemic proportions
when it became a global phenomenon in 1918.
Susan F.
Tollemache, his granddaughter, writes:
"There is a story
in the family that the gardener saw Leone's ghost - the
day before the family were notified of his demise -
walking along the footpath at the back of Ham House and
then through a locked gate. The gardener knew the gate
was locked as he had locked it himself.
The extract below is
from the diary written during the last three months of
his life. It makes very sad reading. I understand from
his Regiment that he should not have been writing a diary
at all - against Army regulations in time of war - which
may explain why some things are rather as if he was
writing in code.
There were other
diaries too - but they were lost at the time of my
father's death. This particular diary was found in an
antique book shop. Luckily, the shop owner sent it to my
brother (without charge) when he was told by an
aquaintance of my father's (who found it among a
pile of old diaries) who the owner was. 
I saw one of the other
diaries before and remember reading a page where he
described the weather, listed the number of casualties
who had passed through his Clearing Station that day and
the extent of their wounds. He listed items he had
requested from supplies: Morphine tablets, Lavender oil
(which was used as an antiseptic at the time) and gauze
bandages. He noted his concern for the army horses and
the conditions they were kept in. However, as far
as I know, Leone was not a medic. I was told he had
been posted to a "Clearing Station".
Perhaps the war had reached the stage where
"they" just posted "numbers" to these
posts ... "Brigade Major needed - send Tollemache -
dosen't matter if he's not a medic - he has First Aid and
that's enough"! This was not unusual then. Equally,
it may be that my grandfather was involved in the
ordering and supply of general stores and equipment for
various purposes, not just medical. He is also mentioned
as being involved in the training of troops.
Leone embarked on HMS
Braemar Castle in September 1914 for the Great War.
In contrast to some accounts of this period of the war -
where events and surroundings are more closely described
- the overall feeling that comes across in my
grandfather's diary is one of a personal melancholy; but
we have to remember that, apart from battle fatigue and
suppressed ire at the 'bone headed officers' above him -
sending orders down the line to commit men to
certain death (while they sat well out of harm's
way) - Leone was in mourning for his wife to whom he had
been married for only nine short months before she died -
in childbirth - in January 1915, when my father was born.
I know he got leave when she died; but I am not sure
if he managed to see my father at all between then and
the leave he mentions in his last diary. His brother, Leo,
was killed in 1914 and his body was never found. These
two episodes would have been enough to depress the
strongest of men without anything else added - and a lack
of proper sleep would not have helped. Like many
more of his generation, his was a life snuffed out before
its time.
When he died, he was a
Captain - serving as a Brigade Major in the 3rd
Australian Infantry Brigade, to which he had been
seconded from the Leicestershire
Regiment. He had
great admiration for the ANZAC forces. I was told this by
my cousin, Theo, Leone's niece - daughter of his sister,
Lyonesse.
- Transcript
of the Diary of Leone Sextus Tollemache -
the last six weeks
- 1st
January - 14th February 1917
Useful
background information ...
- 1st. January.
- Feeling pretty dicky.
Don't go out or do anything. G. O. C.
1st. Anzac comes round. Things pretty
grim & miserable. Ask about returning
to B. E. F. (British Expeditionary
Force)
- 2nd. January.
- Feeling absolutely
useless. Think I'll have to chuck in.
- 3rd. January.
- Feeling very dicky.
Don't go out in morning. Am quite feed up
with life. Hear of all the DSOs etc.--
really quite comique.
- 4th.January.
- Still very dicky. Go up
to 11th. OP HQ. Still very fed up.
Henwood comes up. Clarke goes on leave.
- 5th. January.
- Like a fool go up to
frontline. Nearly throw a fit. Am
congratulated (not condoled with) because
of a mention. (in dispatches)
- 6th. January.
- Feeling very seedy
again. Can't think or do anything. Feel
ready to chuck in.
- 7th. January.
- Still very sick monkey.
Salisbury, Salier, Ridley, & Gen.
Glasgow come along. Feel a little more
cheerful. My Brigade going on leave after
a lapse of 30 days. Don't go out or do
anything.
- 8th. January.
- A miserable day -
feeling very seedy. Go to visit Salier
12th. Bd & Gen. Robertson. Handing
over to 13th. seems all right after 34 of
the most miserable & useless days up
in Line. Leave about 20.15 & arrive
at end of duck walk at 21.15 &
Derancourt 22.15.
- 9th. January.
- Feeling awful. Get up
late; have to move my room. Find that my
horses have been absolutely neglected.
Feel very miserable. Got back with Baker
?Major [writing is difficult to read
here] at 9th. Br Hdqts - Col Bennett
& Andrew pushes off on leave.
Gen. Walker comes along & hears our
& my woes!
- 10th. January.
- Still very sad monkey
-- see Col. Marshal in the morning. Do
not do anything, still contemplate going
sick. Get letter from Gen. Mac Logan
& dispatches; write a suitable
answer. Send cheque £1. to Le Fause for
Wardle's present. Feeling very seedy. [here
writing is very hard to make out] Gen
Walker says my queries re. ... to Su
& G S O will be looked into but don't
believe it!
- 11th. January
- Nothing special doing.
Still feeling very dicky. G.O .C. 1st.
Div comes around again. They appear to be
interested in my woes - don't think it's
much good at all. I'm quite apathetic.
Smith the new Bde Comdr is very finicky.
Chapman comes as J.O. Go around to 10th.
after dinner.
- 12th. January.
- Nothing special. Go
& see untrained re-enforcements. The
whole show is a bit of a farce. Am still
feeling anything but fit but chiefly
mental I'm afraid. Beastly wet. Vaughan
goes away. Get pen back from Cox.
- 13th. January.
- Still pretty dicky. Bde
Comdr very pinicikty. Divnl Comdr to
impact partially trained
re–enforcements. Things not at all
too good. Stuff in for leave. Wonder what
sort of chance I've got. A backing
blaisterer from Geo. Bde comes [writing
very unclear here.] along. Still
feeling a bit dicky. Dent Young
joins Bde.
- 14th. January.
- Prepare to move off.
Make a bad start as regards mess. Sarpoon
tries [writing hard to read
here] to do us in the eye. Get lunch
at Bayeux Marters (Baker) ! See Davis
also Carey (new B / M of 8th.!)
Eventually get to Bresle without any very
bad mishaps. Things fairly good
altogether. Don't like my new mates very
much!
- 15th. January.
- Training starts again
very cold. O.C. Bre. rushes round. Go
round in the morning also in the
afternoon & show them rifle
ranges. Send cheque £ 2-12/- Chas B.and
Cox £200 5% War loan 1927 - 1947.
- 16th. January.
- Nothing special doing.
Wander round with [words here
difficult to read] tour major and
Garde Champ art re. bombing grounds. Walk
over to Bayeux after lunch & have
pow-wow re. training. Hear all sorts of
furfees. Pass Bde. to Beckett.
Letter written to send £60 to Craig
& co.
- 17th. January.
- Nothing specially
desperate. Snow fairly thick. King of
Greece comes around. I put forward my
claims as an officer of the Imperial
bodyguard! Prepare a desperate
effusion in order to "create"
..?.. [this word is impossible
to make out] Hope that my leave won't
be interfered with. Send cheque to
Metcalfe & Hughes d. £- 19 /
1/ 1d. £ -/19 /6d
- 18th. January.
- Very grim & snowy
day. Am feeling quite fed up with life.
Divisional Comdr comes along in the
morning. Chapman down with fever. Am
feeling pretty dicky both bodily &
mentally. My leave sounds a bit in the
wind still.
- 19th. January.
- Divnl. Comdr. comes
around in morning. We prowl round
& see Bde. doing stereotyped attack!
Things not too extremely grim. Lunch with
9th. Bde. A & Q 9 comes in the
afternoon. My leave is approved. Hope I
may be able to get away all right. Stuff
in my furious application. Clarke well
due but not yet back.
- 20th. January.
- Nothing desperate
doing. Go up to 9th. & judge teams
& hacks. Lunch at 9th. Go up again in
afternoon and judge drill squads. Get
hair cut. -- - much disturbed Clarke
comes back but with the news that
Duqulier will not come back until 22nd.
My leave looks a bit sad altogether! Go
to 9th. to dine.
- 21st. January.
- Nothing special doing.
Feeling very full of headache. Birdie (Birdwood) comes & presents
ribbons. Find I can't do any combat - am
getting quite excited about leave. Hope
it won't fall through.
-
- From a contemporary
Austrailian Diary:- January
21st 1917.
We were today inspected by General
Smythe. He is temporally in command of
our Division and is a V.C. , real great
chap. and written of the following
days ... January
22nd, 23rd, 24th, 25th, 26th, 27th and
28th 1917.
It is still freezing, 40 degrees below
zero.
- 22nd. January.
- Nothing desperate until
12.15 9th. Brd . operation. Miss
after lunch training activity conference.
? Bridgs. doesn’t turn up. Feeling
very fed up about things in general.
Don't know quite what’s going to
happen. Brigadier Wills up. I keep him
& Henworth going until late with
operations. Decide colude off ?
difficulty in car. P plus 3.
- 23rd. January.
- Push off in an
Ambu{lance} with Hilmer Smith. Dejeuner (breakfast)
at Amiens. Leave at 11.45 & on
arrival at Boulogne about 15.30 am told
no more berths. Go & stay at Paris
Hotel. Before dinner a slight adrenaline
(?rush) with a VAD. Turn in early.
- His
Leave in England
- 24th. January.
- Leave Boulogne after
various adventures about 10.00. See
Challenor & Gloves ? Raine. Lunch on
train. Arrive London about 15.00 . Go to
13A then to Brig. Peel. Meet one from
Highcliffe & then to Genoa. No room
at club; take one at Cattin - quite
comfortable. Turn in at 23.00. Cost
re transferring ........ to new war loan.
Beckett .....
From a contemporary Austrailian
Diary:- 24
[January 1917] Gen' parade
on field of snow & Bde. inspected by GEN.
SMYTHE. -
written on the same day.)
- 25th. January.
- Get up late and
breakfast about 11.00. Lunch with Val [his
sister] Then to Cox & W.O. go to
Faulkner also to various other places.
Have tea at Fuller's with one very
amusing filly. Arrange for dinner at
club. The Highcliffe fails. Go back to
Brig. Peel meet me; also dinner at Ship
& Squeals! Wander afterwards &
find the garage one & we go to
Oxford. Not very elevating at all.
- 26th. January.
- Get up very late go to
stores etc. Lunch with self at Club. Go
& do a conference then prowl to
Elysée. Find one very ? person at
-- TWC -- awful suggestions. Meet the
garage one again. Dine and go to Oxford
to stay. Very indiff. *
- 27th. January.
- Get up very late. Lunch
with Liddle at 14 Ash. Gdns. Very pleas.
Meet Radford at club. Leave King's X. at
17.00 without further adventure, arrive
Huntn [Huntington?] & come
along in one of Yarnold's cars.
- 28th. January.
- Get up earlish &
fill in until lunch. Afterwards walk up
to pond in park. Do not skate,
surprisingly cold. Write letters etc.
- 29th. January.
- Breakfast in bed &
loaf before lunch. Try to skate in meadow
afterwards. Dorothy & Theodora [his
nieces] do a little play. Very
pleasant. Feeling very sleepy.
- 30th. January.
- Breakfast in bed.
Lyonesse [his sister & mother of
Theodora] takes me to the
stat[ion] Leave Huntington at 1.22. See
good samples of the ......... feeling
very cold. Arrive York at 5.39pm. See
Cope who comes & dines. - Denys
[his son.] very fit. Turn in late.
- (Though
appearing as almost an afterthought, this
was the last time he saw Denys who - at
the age of seventy - still remembered
clearly his father coming into the
bathroom where his Nanny was bathing him
and remembered his father kneeling down
to give him a “Golly” doll,
made of brown velvet with scarlet
dungarees. My father gave me this same
doll when I was seven years old.)
- 31st. January.
- Breakfast in bed. Go
into bank {Beckett} Transfer to new loan.
Cash cheque £7. Go to lunch at Skelton -
very pleas - much admire Sta Arcancs.
Leave York 3.12 Unpleasant mates in
train. Yanler. Kit right to Club. Go to
Reg(ents) Pal(ace) see
Garage Filly. Find the "Mitford
". Dine at the Ship. Wander around
& so to bed.
- 1st. February.
- Get up early. Go to
stores etc. Order boots at
Faulkner’s. Things a bit grim - snow
etc. Lunch at Morgan’s. Meet
Crockett. Smith's to tea. Go to Reg Pal
& meet the Howards. Dine at Ship.
Very pleas. Bed latish.
- 2nd. February.
- Get up late. Go to
shops etc. before lunch. Lunch with Val
& Mabel [his sisters] Cox
& Co after lunch. Am a bit wandering.
Go to the baths, not pleas., afterwards
go meet Howard, dine at Ship, rather a
catast, - feeling sad monkey, write lots
of letters.
- 3rd. February .
- Get up late. Have
breakfast with Col. H Smith. Go to stores
see Genl Walker. Go to Folk. [Folkstone]
Val [his sister] sees us off. See
Wilson & Hutcherson. Stay at Longford
Hotel. Petty comic. Quite amusing
especially after most people have pushed
off to bed 1. 1/2 *
His return
to France
- 4th. February.
- Leave Folk. about 9.30
am. Boulogne 11.30. Lunch at Maurice.
Quite an affaire with a "trop jeune
fillette”! After much scrambling
leave by rail & arrive Amiens at
18.30. Stay at Rhin Hôtel. Really quite
amusing account of local bombing.
- 5th. February.
- Get up early for car.
Go to Y.M.C.A. Go to ?bariel in rickety
car + leave at about 13.00 - arrive
Albert 15.00 & get found by 9th.. Go
to D.A.W.A.S. to get car. Feeling very
cold, sad - quite ready to get
another go of leave! 9th. Br very ?chicry
-- Get left in car
from D.A.W.A.S.; extremely cold.
Arrive Bde. Hdqus. to find nothing
arranged for me at all. Turn in cold
& nervous.
 6th.
February. - Get up latish.
Miserably cold. Am fed up but ought to be
fit. Go & see 10th. & 11th. Geil
[difficult to read this name] goes
up to 1st. Bde. Hear from Mac Lay also W.
Bond. Write to both. Am very fed (up)
with life in general. No news of my move
anywhere. Don't feel extremely useful.
Postcards to Mamma .---------. Lyonesse,
Val, Mabel, [his sisters]
- 7th. February.
- Go up to first Bde. in
morning with Vaughan. Quite a good place
& things really interesting. Do a
certain amount of work in the afternoon,
but find that things are not too easy.
Hear of labels dished out promiscuously.
Feel a bit dicky tho not extremely
depressed. Write to Genl. Mac & W .
Bond.
- 8th. February.
- Do a fair amount of
work in morning. Go round to 12th. Bde.
Brig. goes down to DWil. Beastly cold
& uncomfortable. Henwood very sick
monkey & in bed. Turn in fairly late.
Send pass bk back to Cox Cr £37 - 10 - 0
after deducting cheques drawn & £50
War Loan bought.
- 9th. February.
- Busy writing etc. in
morning. Feeling extremely torpid.
Henwood gets off his bed of sickness.
Clarke & I go up to 1st. Bde Hdqs -
have tea and afterwards go round line.
Not too comfortable -- however survive.
Have an excellent supper afterwards.
- 10th. February.
- Feeling pretty sad
monkey. Get another letter re. my
returning to BEF. Evidently they intend
to block me all they know. Nothing
special doing. Arrange for relief of
Milligan etc. Catch a beastly cold. Am
not feeling extremely vigorous. Hear
great reports re. Naval battle.
- 11th. February.
- Go up to 10th. &
11th. Genl goes down to town. I stay in
most of the day. News of Andrew pushing
off to England -- arrange substitute.
Things not too pleasant. Am feeling
extremely torpid tho not really ill. More
news re. Naval slant. 10th. & 12th.
push off into line.
- 12th. February.
- Start & pack up
ready to move. Beastly cold &
uncomfortable. Lunch early. Get up to our
new home (Cough Drop) at about 16.30. No
kit & no food until about 8pm. Relief
all OK. I develop a beastly cold. Things
pretty well all right. (One
contemporary Australian account mentions
a position called "Acid Drop".)
- 13th.
February.
- Get up latish.
Very busy over correspondence etc.
Trying to get things more or less squared
up. Andrew is to move off on 14th. Wish I
was to be on the move as well. However I
suppose I will have to (??)
"dree my weird here! ". Write
to Val & Lyonesse (his sisters)
- 14th. February.
- Do nothing except quill
drive in the morning. Henwood doing S
Capt. Baker Finch comes up to act as
understudy. Things not specially
exciting. Fearful fit of depression has
got me absolutely fired. Go out with
Vaughan after lunch to 3rd
Bde. Hdqs. Things not extremely pleasant.
Nearly stop one. Just lurch; don’t
walk straight into it. Lots of codes etc.
- This
was his last entry. He died from
influenza on 20th
February 1917. He is buried in Plot 6, Row 4,
Dernancourt Cemetery Extension.
Dernancourt Village is 3 kilometers South
of Albert. The Communal Cemetery is west
of the village and the Extension is north
west of the Communal Cemetery.
Added
in May 2004 - The
unusual photograph below has been kindly supplied
by Susan who believes that Leone is in this group
somewhere - possibly standing - in full uniform -
at the back of the group, with his arms folded.
The image shows cadets at the Royal Military
College, Sandhurst, in 1902, while digging
[practice] trenches. The original 1902 photograph
was taken by J. David - 35 rue Rivay -
Levallois, Paris (known in 1881 to have
worked from 90 rue de Courcelles in Levallois)
and bears the catalogue number of 193253.
It is now severely foxed and has been computer
enhanced for this page. Susan comments: "
... they don't look harassed or over worked!"
Indeed, just some twelve years later, trenches
were having to be dug in earnest and the enormous
blood-cost of trench warfare was to change such
light-hearted scenes as this for ever.
|
Susan concludes: "We
are descended from the Tollemaches of Ham House, near Kew
(Richmond) in London and the Earldom of Dysart,
(Scotland) which was created by King Charles Ist.
Leone’s father - the Reverend Ralph Tollemache - was
previously married to his cousin, Caroline Tollemache, by
whom he had six children. Caroline probably died in
childbirth. Ralph remarried in 1859 and it is from this
family we are descended. 
Leone was
born in June 1884 the sixth son and eighth child of his
father’s second marriage. He rarely used his full
name, preferring to use 'Leone Sextus Tollemache'. He
entered the Military College at Sandhurst in 1902 and was
commissioned into the Leicestershire
Regiment in 1903 at the rank of Second
Lieutenant. At the time of his death in February 1917 he
was a Captain but was an acting Brigade Major in the
Australian 3rd Infantry Brigade to which he had been
seconded.
He served
in India - the regimental emblem is the tiger - Fermoy in
Ireland and in France. He may also have been in North Africa though
I’m not sure of this. If he was, it was while he was on
secondment to another regiment. It was while he was
in Fermoy that he announced his engagement to my paternal
grandmother, Kathleen Mary Mills,
the daughter of Joseph Mills and Charlotte née
Bloomfield. Charlotte was born in Waterford at New Hall.
She was descended from the Bloomfields of Castle
Caldwell. Admiral Bloomfield came over with William of
Orange.
They
were married in Acomb, York on 23rd April
1914 and spent their honeymoon in Fermoy. As I understand
it, but for the war, Leone and Kathleen had intended to
farm near Fermoy. My father, Denys Herbert George
Tollemache, (pictured
adjacent) was born 12th January 1915 at White House,
Acomb, York. His mother, Kathleen, died as a result of
the birth. Denys was raised by his grandmother, Charlotte
(Bloomfield) Mills and after her death by his paternal
aunt, Lyonesse (Tollemache) and her husband, Frank
Astley Cooper."
For
autobiographical details of Denys Tollemache, click on
the image adjacent. These are notes written by Denys
himself in about 1987, in response to a set of specific
questions. (Page added February 2004)
The two
photographs of Denys H. G. Tollemache (1915-1991) that
appear on this page were kindly donated by his daughter,
Susan. She has also provided further material - together
with some explanations concerning this family line - with
a photograph of her great grandfather, the the Reverend
Ralph Tollemache, grouped with some members of his second
family, including a young Leone. Use the gold button to
follow the link or use the image link at the head of this
page to retrace to the source of this page.
 Site Note
There is some uncertainty about Leone
Tollemache's service in North Africa but, in trying to
trace this service, Susan demonstrates the following:
This letter shows a request for 'Captain Tollemache' to
come to Tel-el-Kebir from Zeitoun where
he is billeted at the Grand Hotel. Zeitoun was considered
part of Cairo command (Egypt) and so he may have already
been attached to the AIF in Cairo in some capacity - but
still with the rank of Captain.
A modern-day letter from Colonel F.A.H.
Swallow O.B.E., writing to Susan on behalf of the
Leicestershire Regiment, states that Leone was in the 2nd.
Battalion of the Regiment in 1905 and that he "probably
moved with them to India in 1906". They served
in Belgaum, Poona and Bombay. Apparently, he left Belgaum
in 1911 to become Adjutant of the 3rd.
Battalion at the Depot, Glen Parva Barracks, South
Wigston in Leicestershire - which post he took up on 27th
March 1911.
He was with the 1st.
Battalion when it moved to Fermoy on 27th November, 1912
- leaving from Aldershot. A Regimental note states that
he was posted to the 1st Battalion "on
absorbtion" - presumably meaning that the 3rd.
Battalion was 'absorbed' into the 1st. and 2nd.
Battalions by way of rationalisation between 1911 and
late 1912. He is then recorded as being with the 1st.
Battalion for the first part of the war. This Battalion
remained in France for the duration of the war whilst the
2nd. Battalion was in India, Mesopotamia
and Palastine.
To find himself in Zeitoun, perhaps he
had re-joined the 2nd. Battalion - going
to the Middle East where he then became associated with
the Australian forces and so received the
"invitation" to serve under General Smythe at
Tel-el-Kebir. Either that, or he had been seconded to the
AIF previously in France and gone to Egypt to take part
in the training of Australian troops prior to the
evidence of his "call" to the 4th Australian
Brigade. He had already undertaken specialist training
for Mounted Infantry. At this time (year unstated) he was
with the 2nd. Battalion of the Leicester
Regiment. Since he is mentioned in this Battalion note as
holding the rank of Lieutenant, it may be presumed that
this training took place prior to 1914 (when he married)
because, from other records, it is known that he was a
Captain by the time his engagement was announced.
Additionally - and another possibility - Leone may have
been wounded in France and then posted as a reinforcement
to another battalion/regiment. As Colonel Swallow points
out, "Postings to other regiments occurred a
great deal during the war." 
It is possible, therefore, that Leone
accepted this transfer at Zeitoun - and the promotion
opportunity - in mid-February 1916 (14th.?) and that he
arrived in France with the Australian Brigades from
Egypt. Colonel Smythe also must have returned to France
at that time - he is named in contemporary Australian
accounts (see diary extract above) as inspecting the
Australian troops there on the same date that Leone was
just setting off on Leave for the last time.
Another contemporary account - of one
Australian (English born) soldier's journey - reads:
"On the 3rd of August, 1915, four months after
the landing at Gallipoli, Thomas Wilson
enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force at Burrrum. On
the 23rd of December, 1915, he embarked on the
"Suevic" in Sydney. He sailed to the south of
Australia, across the Indian Ocean, the Red Sea and
through the Suez Canal to Alexandria in Egypt.
On the 16th of February, 1916,
Thomas was allotted to join the 55th Battalion at Zeitoun.
Then three days later he was taken to Tel
el Kebir, which is also in Egypt. He
would have seen the sights of the pyramids when he was
training in the desert for 4 months. On the 19th
of June, 1916, he embarked the
"Caledonian" at Alexandria and sailed to
Marseilles in France. On the 29th July,
1916, he disembarked at Marseilles.
From here he would have travelled by train to the north
of France to the battlefields on the River Somme."
Thomas Wilson would have arrived in Tel-el-Kebir at much
the same time as 'Brigade Major' Leone Tollemache if the
latter accepted this invitation to serve with the 4th
Australian Brigade under Smythe (whose family name is
usually found without the final letter 'e'.)
Further evidence of the connection
between Zeitoun, Leone and the 4th
Australian Brigade comes from various pieces of
contemporary ephemera that may be seen for sale on the
Internet - two clear examples being: "1916 WWI
AIF stampless "Greetings from a Soldier in
Egypt" letter-card, good cds "4th
Aust Inf Bgde/Field PO" 14-111(March) -16 & triangular censor no. 3014. From
Serapeum, Egypt. Proud p112 Type D1 or D2. To Australia.
Scarce." and "1916
WWI AIF stampless PPC ex Zeitoun,
Egypt (but Ceylon scene), cds "Australian Base
Details P.O." 14-111-16, purple cachets "Passed
by Censor/A.I.F. Misc. Reinf) & " Zeitoun".
Fine."
On balance, it may be assumed that
Leone Tollemache arrived in France from Egypt with the
ANZAC contingents in July 1916 and served there for the
six months prior to the commencement of the diary
transcribed above. However, there is a strong possibility
that he was with the 4th Brigade when he died rather than the 3rd. (Information
here)
The 4th Brigade's
Campaigns are as follows: Egypt,
Sinai: Defence of Suez Canal, Gallipoli: Landing
at Anzac, Defence of Anzac, Sari Bair, Scimitar Hill,
Withdrawal from Anzac, Western Front:
Pozieres, Retreat to the Hindenburg Line, Bullecourt,
Messines, Menin Road, Polygon Wood, Passchendaele,
Amiens, Albert, Hindenburg Line. The 3rd. Brigade's
Campaigns are listed as follows: Egypt,
Sinai: Defence of Suez Canal, Gallipoli:
Landing at Anzac, Defence of Anzac, Sari Bair, Withdrawal
from Anzac, Western Front: Pozieres,
Retreat to the Hindenburg Line, Bullecourt, Menin Road,
Broodeseinde, Hazebrouck, Amiens, Hindenburg Line. Albert
is not mentioned in the lists for the 3rd. Infantry
Brigade.
Major-General Nevil Maskelyne
Smyth V.C. (1868-1941) was nicknamed 'The
Sphinx' and commanded the 1st Australian Brigade on
Gallipoli, then the 2nd Australian Division on the
Western Front. His courage at Lone Pine (1915) won the
admiration of the Australian troops - a respect that he
never lost.  Much involved
in the the training of Australian troops in Egypt, he was
described as ‘sphinx-like, silent and
imperturbable’. He was (Scout Movement)
Baden-Powell's first cousin - the son of Sir Warington
Wilkinson Smyth and grandson of Admiral W. H. Smyth. He
was awarded the Victoria Cross while serving with the 2nd
Dragoon Guards (Queen's Bays) at Khartoum in 1898. He
settled in Australia in 1925. Click on his
image for ancestry details.
For some background details about the
winter of 1916/17 see also the account of the "Great
Thaw" by Richard Irving Dacre available on this
site. Click on the adjacent image. His series of memoirs
(with photographs) provides an interesting insight into
the life of an officer in the Royal Army Medical Corps
beginning with news of the declaration of war.
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